This invention relates to improvements in vending and dispensing bins for use in storage and dispensing of elements of materials which are deposited in a conglomerate mass. It has particular advantage in application to the handling and dispensing of ice cubes and will be so described, but only for purposes of illustration. Its application is not so limited and such is not intended.
Much difficulty has been experienced in the use of the means and methods heretofore available for the storage and dispensing of ice cubes. Such items are in frequent and great demand, particularly in installations having the character of motels, hotels and hospitals. As heretofore known and practiced in such installation, bins are provided on the premises, into which bins ice cubes are dumped and stored as a conglomerate mass of material. When the ice cubes so stored are required for use as individual cubes, the conventional arrangement provides that the cubes are normally extracted from the bin by hand or by means of a hand manipulated scoop. The system so provided for storing and handling the cubes is extremely unsatisfactory. Unsanitary conditions prevail not only by reason of the fact that disease may be transmitted by the application of the many hands which are inserted in the bin to acquire ice cubes but by reason of the further fact that the arrangement normally provides that the bin must be open wide in each instance a supply of the cubes is required. This last exposes the cubes to the prevailing dirt and unsanitary conditions of the environment which surrounds the bin. Oftentimes the user is careless and leaves the bin wide open, under which conditions foreign matter may easily reach and contaminate the cubes.
Adding to the foregoing problem in use of prior art storage and dispensing bins is the fact that the nature and character of the prior art bins and the use thereof, as dictated by their construction, many times produce conditions under which the cubes tend to slightly melt and to adhere to each other, even though the bin might itself be cooled or refrigerated. This last factor produces obvious difficulties in maintaining the cubes in an individualized form and makes it particularly difficult to readily extract and dispense the cubes in an optimal condition for use.
It will be obvious from the foregoing that the nature and character of the prior art apparatus for vending and dispensing ice cubes and similar materials leaves much to be desired and the use thereof can have serious undesirable consequences.